Hey all! Time for some more bugfixes and esoteric features / QOL improvements to finish off 0.2.5*. And thanks to some snippets from @samhocevar's excellent z8lua, some cleaner code parsing. PICO-8 0.2.5d is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP and web (Education Edition).
0.2.5e
0.2.5e fixes a bug in the loader that causes uppercase characters to not be loaded as punyfont (e.g. breaking _ENV).
0.2.5d
Added: tline(bits) to set number of bits used for fractional part of mx,my,mdx,mdy (13 by default)
Added: ctrl+mousewheel to scroll code horizontally
Added: current bbs cartridge id shown in window title (config.txt show_cart_id_in_title to disable)
Added: poke(0x5f36, (@0x5f36)|0x80) to enable character wrap by default when printing
Added: blit_method in config.txt // Can use a software blitter by default (slower but more reliable)
Added: reminder when re-locating sprites that only the top half of map is altered by default
Added: draw boot sound as note glyphs on startup when sound is off
Changed: print() returns both max(cur_x), max(cur_y) and includes non-printed characters (e.g. tabs)
Changed: extcmd("folder") and extcmd("set_title", "foo") can now be used from bbs carts
Changed: Indexing a string out of range returns nil (was "")
Changed: Replaced most of pre-processor with Lua parser modifications based on z8lua (fixes various edge cases)
Changed: "a
20 comments
Turn on your subwoofer!
This is a 512 byte intro I made for inercia 2022, a demoparty that took place in Lisbon over the weekend. It's the first time that I put the no longer secret 0x808 audio channel to use, with around 200 bytes of the (compressed) code spent on generating the music.
I was pleased to find that techniques used for golfing down visual effects' code size transfer quite well to audio. There are a lot of expressions in there that change meaning over time in a way that produces some kind of structured progression -- some planned, some not so planned. The whole thing is really a single effect, with a lot of janky math to roll out different audio and gfx layers at different times. I can't completely explain how it works in places, but feel free to ask about anything if you like!
2 comments
Hey All!
PICO-8 0.2.5 is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP and web (Education Edition).
Edit: 0.2.5b is now up for Linux users who had trouble connecting to the BBS: https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=116441#p
Built-in Help
PICO-8 0.2.5 has built-in documentation on API functions and other topics. Type "HELP" at the prompt to see a list of topics in blue, and then e.g. "HELP GFX" to get more information about that thing.
While in the code editor, you can also press CTRL-U to get help on whatever is under the cursor, including operators and Lua keywords.
> HELP FILLP |
String Indexing
Single characters can now be grabbed from strings using a familiar str[i] style syntax that means something similar to sub(str, i, i). The index is rounded down to the closest integer, and can be negative to index from the end of the string.
41 comments
PICO-8 0.2.4c is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP.
This is mostly a bug-fixing update; you can see the main 0.2.4 change notes in the 0.2.4 thread.
URL Cartridges
With the release of PICO-8 Education Edition, it is now possible to encode cartridges into a 2040-character URL that runs it in a web version of PICO-8's editing tools. Only the code and graphics sections are stored.
> SAVE @URL COPIED URL TO CLIPBOARD 265 / 2040 CHARS |
Tiny Cartridges
When exporting cartridges to .p8.rom format (the raw 32k block of data that is encoded inside .p8.png argb data), 0.2.4c allows only the code section to be stored using the -t (for tiny) switch:
> EXPORT -T TINY.P8.ROM WRITING 154 BYTES (CODE ONLY) |
You should get a file that is exactly as large as the compressed code size reported by INFO. When using LOAD, that file will be loaded into the code section, and the other sections reset to their default states.
There isn't much practical use for tiny .P8.ROM files, but I think it is nice to be able to store a tiny program in its true tiny form on disk.
On the subject of tiny cartridges, for those making
18 comments
\o/
Say hi to the newest member of the PICO-8 family! A free, web-based, account-less version of the console making it a more accessible way to learn how to program, push pixels and write chip tunes. It comes with a fully functional set of cartridge editing tools, and can load and save .p8 and .p8.png files to and from your local drive (as well as storing them to a temporary filesystem in the browser's cache).
Just run it from any browser that has a keyboard + mouse attached:
If you are new to PICO-8 you can find a manual and tutorials on the main site, or click on the blue bunny for some tips. Here's a 2-minute GIF showing the creaton of a simple PICO-8 cartridge from scatch:
55 comments
Hi All
PICO-8 0.2.4b is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP.
This is mostly a bug-fixing update; you can see the main 0.2.4 change notes in the 0.2.4 thread.
There are a few handy editor features though; here's a demo of setting animation loops: press l to start and end, and then -,+ or q,w or a,z (for azerty keyboards) to switch frames. This also works at different sprite selection sizes (shift-click and drag a selection from the spritesheet). This gif also shows using ctrl-b to "paste big" multiple times.
Full 0.2.4b changelog:
Added: l in sprite sheet navigator to set loop start / end points (then q,w or a,z to navigate)
Added: ctrl-b in gfx editor to paste 2x2 original size ("paste big")
11 comments
Happy Holidays, everyone! This cartridge is my addition to the 2021 PICO-8 Advent Calendar, which you should also check out if you haven't already!
Controls
- LEFT/RIGHT: Slow down or speed up. It is vital to get the right speed for some jumps
- O (Z/C): Jump. You can get more height by going fast and/or holding the button longer.
- X: To restart after crashing.
This game gets reasonably tricky; especially from level 3. But if you can reach the end, you'll get a simple ending along with your total time and number of restarts. The randomish elements in the game (you'll see what I mean) are actually deterministic, so it's possible to form strategies and optimise your time, if that's your cup of tea.
7 comments
PICO-8 0.2.4 is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP.
This update is another attempt at freezing the API before the last feature update (0.3 -- high scores), but let's see how it goes! 0.2.4 also includes an important security update (see below for details), so please do consider updating. Cartridges posted after this release post will only be visible from SPLORE when running 0.2.4 or later.
64k RAM
64K of Base RAM is now enabled by default. In 0.2.4 it is safe to PEEK/POKE/MEMCPY memory 0x8000 and above (i.e. -0x8000 .. -1) without setting the hardware extension bit at 0x5f36.
Because PICO-8's numbers only cover 0xFFFF, this means it is impossible to poke or memcpy out of range. The original motivation for having 32k by default was to give new programmers some concept of illegal memory operations, and as an extra form of feedback when code isn't working as expected. But over time, these reasons haven't proved as useful as the benefits of allowing 64k by default. Additionally, 0.2.4 introduces the first feature that explicitly uses the upper 32k section (see Big Maps).
23 comments
(click to expand)
Heeey, it's Squiddy! This is a game made in 1017 bytes for PICO-1k Jam, co-designed and pixelled by @castpixel (twitter). This is our second production as pod; you can find the first one here. Squiddy is also up on itch.
Technical Details
1024 bytes is an interesting size limit for a game; it's large enough to try for some relatively detailed game logic or visuals, but small enough that you need to execute some weird programming tricks and design pivots to get everything to fit. If you found this post because you heard that PICO-8 is a nice introduction to game programming, I apologize for the following code snippets! First up, here is the full source code for the game that includes the graphics and map data. It can be pasted into PICO-8 0.2.3 or later:
➡️=0t=8⬇️=7for x=0,3800do
➡️-=1if(➡️<1)➡️=2r=3⬇️=7-⬇️ while r>2do r=ord("○ュ?\0゜ョヤャ◝◝⁷ツん¹ュ=◝に◝+ンョャヤ○る³ユ\n <◝エ𝘤ムもにュよ◝トラ⁙⁴よ░²リムリᵇ³ト■𝘨○ワ;◝エらョ0\0pクシチ◜◝=ュoれ/ウワ◝モャいユ𝘪ゆ?=0◝cりdオトは⁷ト?⁵\0𝘴リ◆○☉6サ¹6ア?ュ◝❎。。ユユ◝ャヤ2v\0q○¹\0ワw3v\0001よ¹\0◝?𝘰v⁴ャ゜⁴ら█pタp⁵ュ?オ; <○○ヨ◝oに◝𝘰ュ?1░ろヲア◝ᵇp○\0s³ヲュひ\0|れツ◝リツ𝘰゜6ト⁴ュ?p◜◝モpᶜオん▶○◜ャ\r○𝘣◝▶トリに1◝⁷ョ_ンん゜ョょ737⬇️○ョ¹ュのら◜-エs○ユト⁴らメ\0³•~◝エろヨ/゜3\0な?𝘯ュ◝よ▮ラヨsクろ?リトンミエセろ⁵ᵇムり3オ◝𝘮rユ⁷ワ>pンᶠ゜シてン>ナレ◝𝘰⁙ュuワ◝シ◝1゛ュ4チ◝?◝◝𝘰\0゜ᵇユ◝エ◝4◀0○ ◝◝◝◝◝\0ら𝘬\0",t\8)>>t%8&3t+=2➡️+=r end
sset(x%95,x\95,⬇️)end
o=128w=256f=0r=4128🐱=cos ➡️=0
❎=64🅾️=r*2s=spr::_::t+=.03camera(❎,🅾️)map()v=0for i=0,t/2do
x=i\32y=i%32v/=2v+=sget(r%o+x/4,r\o+y/4-🐱(i/870)/2)&4mset(x,y,v)p=i%4y=i\4*5%31
if(mget(x,y+1)==4)s(0,x*8+🐱(p/4-t),y*8-p*4)
if(r%5==2and i<o)s(i&2,-t*i%w,i*i%w+🐱(i/9+t)*3)➡️-=1>>12
end
if(r==4136)s(8,92,112,5,5)
s(20,o+🐱(t/2)*9,90+r+🐱(t)*5,1.5,2)b=btn()n=b&32f=f/2+n/20k=b%4\2-b%2if(f>n)➡️+=f*k ⬇️-=f f=0
❎+=➡️ 🅾️+=⬇️ ➡️=-➡️ ⬇️=-⬇️?"ᶜe\^wfin ♥",108,60+r
if(mget(❎/4,🅾️/4)<1)➡️*=-.95⬇️=.05-⬇️*.9
r+=(❎\o+🅾️\o*o)*8❎%=o 🅾️%=o
s(16+(f&2)+k%2*32,❎*2-8,🅾️*2-8,2,2,k<0)?"⁶1⁶c"
goto _ |
Sprite Storage
Here's the 95x40 spritesheet (hidden for spoilers).
22 comments
PICO-8 0.2.3 is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP.
This update is focused on resolving runtime issues, with a couple of small but handy features thrown in for good measure:
Lucky Draw
To grab 32 random cartridges from the BBS, there is now a 'Lucky Draw' list in SPLORE. It is more likely to select cartridges that have more stars, but even unrated carts have a decent chance of appearing. Perhaps this will be a way to unearth some undiscovered gems, or just to find something new to play without scrolling back through several years of carts.
The list is cached, so it only changes every 2 minutes or so. But you can keep paging through the list to get new items forever.
Live Token / Character Count
Select some text in the code editor to view how many characters or tokens are contained within.
36 comments
My entry for TweetTweetJam #6: a game in 2 tweets (at 558 characters)
Roll right without crashing for a high score (or left for a low score)
CTRL-R to restart
Hold X when landing to jump.
o=128x,y,u,v,h,p,s,d=o,0,0,0,0,32,sin,circfill::_:: ?"\^1\^c" for i=-o,384do j,l,b=x\1+i,h,btn()h,a=s(j/o)+s(j/93),p+i/4 line(a,0,a,h*2.1+p)h=p+h*5*max(s(j/3^7)) if(i==0and y>h)then if v>0then u+=v*(h-l)v*=-.7else v+=u*(h-l)end y=h if(b>9)v=-4 end for z=0,2,.2do pset(p+i/z,67+h/z,12+(h-l)*4)end end for i=-o+x&-p,x+o,p do a=-t()/(4+i^2%29)m,n=o+i+cos(a)*p-x,s(i/999)*80+s(a)*p [ [size=16][color=#ffaabb] [ Continue Reading.. ] [/color][/size] ](/bbs/?pid=93976#p) |
8 comments
Dig to collect gems, and don't get squashed! A wee game made in a weekend for Ludum Dare #48. You can find the compo entry here: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/48/diggleoid
3 comments
PICO-8 0.2.2b 0.2.2c is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP.
This is a bug-fixing patch for 0.2.2 -- see that thread for a summary of recent features.
0.2.2b does have a few small features though. You can now use a .lua.png extension with the EXPORT command to get the source code (all tabs) of your cartridge printed out to an image with roughly A4 dimensions. This is intended mostly for visualisation purposes, and lines are cropped to 188 pixels (47 characters) wide. The jelpi demo source code is bigger than I imagined!
EXPORT JELPI.LUA.PNG |
dots3d.p8 is much cuter
There are also some new extcmd() commands for setting screenshot output filenames, and the window title (intended for exported binaries).
I've also added a way to force the pause menu to come up, even if the cartridge is blocking it with poke() trickery. Simply hold the pause button for half a second, and the menu should come up no matter what (it's implemented at a low level). This might be useful when using SPLORE from a sofa, and a keyboard isn't available to terminate stubborn cartridges.
Full list of changes:
[hidden]
v0.2.2c
Fixed: ?"\ac0" starts from d#0 instead of c0 (again -- 0.2.2b was still broken)
Fixed: splore local directory navigation fails when using a relative home path set with -home
Fixed: export .lua.png only shows the first 2730 lines
v0.2.2b
Added: export foo.lua.png to get an image of the cartridge's source code
Added: Pause menu can be forced to appear by holding down pause for 300ms (even if program blocks it)
Added: extcmd("set_filename","foo") -- set the filename of the next screenshot or gif (can include %d)
Added: extcmd("set_title","foo") -- set window title (useful for exported binaries)
Added: Can toggle punyfont mode at command prompt w/ ctrl+p (useful for inspecting puny variable names!)
Changed: Default filename is /untitled.p8 instead of no filename (auto-increments to untitled_1.p8 etc.)
Changed: circ/oval that are not visible cost almost nothing, including circles that contain clipping region
Changed: filled circles/ovals that contain clipping region cost the same as the equivalent rectfill
Changed: shift+enter in code editor only auto-completes block for DO, THEN, REPEAT or FUNCTION
Fixed: ?"\ac0" starts from d#0 instead of c0
Fixed: preprocessor regression when using string at end of ..= statement: if (true) then a..="b" end
Fixed: pressing L / R in paused menu is registered by running program after closing menu
Fixed: printing text in tall mode (?"\^ttall") via commandline can chop off bottom line before scrolling
Fixed: drag-select text with cursor at bottom or top of screen scrolls too fast
Fixed: spurious stat(0) results when using yield() to exit frame instead of flip()
Fixed: line()/tline() sometimes draws pixels on opposite side of screen (0.2.2 regression)
Fixed: line()/tline() fails to draw lines that have x or y coordinates > 32767 pixels apart
Fixed: can peek() more than 8192 values in single call
Fixed: large fill circles (> radius 900) render incorrectly close to vertical center (32-bit builds, web)
Fixed: even-widthed filled ovals with midpoint < 0 is drawn off by 1
Fixed: black pixels in gif / map export not completely black
Fixed: map and spritesheet exporters do not respect current display palette and 0x5F36:0x8 (draw spr 0)
Fixed: code editor: cursor position off by one when selecting character after glyph (0.2.2 regression)
Fixed: code editor: tab names don't show up when 100% punyfont
Fixed: import spritesheet.png failing under MacOS (0.2.2 regression)
Fixed: export single sfx to .wav crashes when contains sfx instrument references
13 comments
Hey All! PICO-8 0.2.2 is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP.
This release follows a pattern set by previous 0.2.* updates in that I set out to fix a bunch of bugs and resolve design details, but in doing so, went down some deep rabbit holes and came out the other end with brand new features. As a result, some of the new features are on the advanced side, and this post will be likewise be more technical than usual. But I hope everyone can find something fun to mess around with!
SFX Filters
At the bottom of the SFX editor, you can now find 5 switches that alter the characteristics of each instrument. You can get a much wider variety of sounds and textures now, but they're meant to feel like variations on the existing instruments rather than completely new ones. I settled on this scheme after working on Voxatron's sound system and found that I could boil the set of parameters I wanted down to just 7 bits of information -- which is fortunate because there were only 7 unused bits left in the SFX data!
33 comments
[O] (z/c): Run / Fly
[X] (x/v): Jump
Left / Right: Turn while in mid-air
v3 update: [X] also accelerates to make mobile controls easier
This is intended to be mostly a toy rather than a game, but you can get points for doing tricks!
Front / back flips (more points for 2x, 3x)
Early Santa: Santa lands early
Sneaky Weasel: Back flip close to the ground
Moon Grazer: Jump High
Glider: Jump Long
Fishtail: Do a bunch of wavey turns in mid-air
Firebird: Dangle Santa like he's the pod from the videogame Thrust
Santa Smash: Santa lands upside down. Don't do that trick.
This game is my contribution to the 2020 PICO-8 Advent Calendar. The calendar always surprises me with its sheer variety and depth of joyful creations, and this year is no exception! I encourage you to have a rummage around inside the advent calendar for the Full Experience (here's the menu cartridge), but to whet your appetite, here is also a partial gif dump:
2 comments
A couple of carts for #tweettweetjam 5 that fit in 560 chars or less.
Cosmic Painter
L/R to rotate
O to accelereate
X to paint
Comets
Just avoid the comets for as long as you can! My best is 49
Crashing into the score kills you.
1 comment
.jpg)
Wobblepaint started as a secret cartridge in my 2019 Advent Calendar entry, but I think it's time for a proper release! This version has some extra controls and nicer, less crinkly wobble.
Instructions
Your brush has a size, colour, pattern and shape that can be adjusted separately. There are 4 presets you can select and modify using keyboard shortcuts, or by clicking and dragging the top menu bar down to reveal a palette of attributes.
Instructions
CTRL-Z, CTRL-Y (or S,F) to undo/redo
CTRL-C, CTRL-V to copy and paste between doodles
76 comments
Hi All! PICO-8 0.2.1b is now up on lexaloffle, Humble, itch.io, and for PocketCHIP. This update started as a continuation of 0.2.0 bug-fixing work, but I also relaxed my position on API minimalism just enough to add some new features :D
UPDATE: 0.2.1b is now live and fixes the print() bug, and a few other things. See the changelog below for details.
Ovals
You can draw ovals (technically, ellipses) both when running a cartridge, and when using the shape tools in the graphics/map editors. Ovals are specified by their boundary rectangle, and follow the usual draw state rules.
pattern={[0]=
…,∧,░,⧗,▤,✽,★,✽,
ˇ,░,▤,♪,░,✽,★,☉,
░,▤,♪,░,✽,★,☉,…,
∧,░,⧗,▤,✽,★,✽,★
}
function _draw()
cls(1)
for i=0,31/32,1/32 do
local x=64+cos(i+t()/8)*48
local y=64+sin(i+t()/8)*44
local w=8+cos(i*2+t()/2)*6
local h=8+sin(i*3+t()/2)*6
fillp(pattern[i*32])
ovalfill(x-w,y-h,x+w,y+h,
(i*32)%8+8)
end
print("pico-8 0.2.1",40,62,13)
end
|
26 comments
// Promo video by m7kenji with music by Kyohei Fujita
Shibuya Pixel Art 2020 is accepting submissions until the end of June, and this year there is a new category for 128x128 games! Lexaloffle is sponsoring the game category with a prize (a Picade Cabinet), and by offering a limited number of PICO-8 licenses to participants.
Similar to a game jam, entries should be based on one or more of the following themes: Shibuya, AI, Humanity, Game and/or Landscape. Unlike typical game jams, existing work can be adapted or reused, as long as it did not win a previous contest. You can find previous winning entries for 2018 and 2019.
1 comment
Back to 2016! This is a demo @castpixel (also on twitter ) and I made in the weeks leading up to Tokyo Demo Fest 2016, as newly formed group: POD. Because it was made in a hurry, I felt I should tidy up the code before posting it. But that's never going to happen, so here's an even messier post-compo version with a few extra details added instead! The rotating orbycube effect can now be found in /demos though if you'd like to see roughly how it works. Also, if you're curious you can find the compo version with: load #orbys_compo
8 comments
